Tramper



J. M. PEERSON.

TRAMPER.

APPLICATION men MAR. I, 1919.

Patented Sept. 12, 1922.

(3140a 14 box Patented Sept. 12, 1922.

stares rarsnr entice.

TRAMPER.

Application filed March 1, 1919. Serial No. 280,188.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMnsM. PEERSON, acitizen of the United States of America, residing at Florence, in thecounty of Lauderdale and State of Alabama, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Trampers, of which the following is aspecification. l

This invention relates to improvements 1n cotton trampers, and has forits principal object to design a continually driven power mechanismcapable of acting through toggle mechanism to intermittently raise andlower the platen or press head so as to compress the cotton into thebaling box as it is fed to the tramper by any suitable mechanism, thefeeding taking place when the platen is raised out of the press box, inwhich position the toggle arms have their smallest angular divergence.

My object in utilizing the toggle mechanism as a motion transmissionmeans be tween the continuously driving power means and the platen, isthat it is peculiarly suited to the ends of the tramper inthat its poweris increased gradually and in proportion as the load. comes on it andits movement is accelerated as it is lifted from the press box andslowed up as it reaches the point of maximum compression. A furtherobject is to so dispose the toggles as to obtain the maximum stroke ofthe platen for a given length of stroke of the toggle operating crankarms, and to this end the platen engaging ends of thetoggles are oifsetso that they diverge towards each end of the platen, thereby spacingtheir platenengaging ends materially farther from the press center thantheir other ends. The extent to which the point of connection of thetoggles to the platen is offset determines the increase of strokeobtained.

A further object is to so connect the toggles to their operating partsas to cause the toggles to break across the center of the press, therebymaking possible an extremely deep stroke into the press box withoutdanger of striking its walls.

The advantage of having a continuous drive is that the entire powermechanism 7 is simplified and reduced in cost and it further enables meto dispense with fluid pressure (air, steam or hydraulic) cylindersandthus any possibility of wetting the cottonv during the trampingmechanismis eliminated. The continuously driven tramper also requires much lesspower for operation than the intermittently operated trampers andrequires no tramper operator.

My invention also comprises the novel details of construction andarrangements of parts, which in their preferred embodiments only areillustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part of thisspeci-1 showing the preferredmanner of connecting the lower toggle lmksthereto.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout thedrawings.

As illustrated, 1 and 2 represent the haling boxes of a revolving pressof any standard construction having overhead timbers I 3 which arespaced by and made fast between the central collars 4 on the verticalshaft5 about which the double press box turns. Above the press box andparallel with the timbers 8 is provided an overhead horizontal timber 6which at its right hand end is made fast between spaced vertical timbers7 secured at theirlower ends to the timbers 3. At its left hand thetimber 6 is supported by a rod or column 8 between collars 9 thereon,the rod 8. being made fast to the flooring or foundation for the press.Between the uprights 7 I mount a driven sprocket or equivalent presstransmitting wheel or pulley 10 which iskeyed'on a shaft 11 which turnsin bearings 12 mounted on the uprights 7 The main transmission gear 10is driven by a pinion 12fast on a power shaft 13 driven from anysuitable source of power and mounted at its outboard end in bearings(not shown) which are sufficiently loose to permit the gear carrying endof the shaft to move with the bearing 14 which is" free to have alimitedswing towards and from the gear wheel 10 b reason of its sus ension on'a han er bar 14* which is pivotally supported by an over} headtransverse bolt 14 inserted horizon,

tally through the overhead timber 6. A

I. p Fig. 8 IS an end elevation of the platen handle 1d pivoted on thetimber 3 and provided with any suitable latching'means will serve tothrow the pinion 12 into or out of mesh with the gear wheel 10. a

The'ends of theshaft 11 project beyond the uprights 7 and at theopposite ends of the shaft are keyed the crank arms 15 and 16 disposedin opposite directions, i. e., 180 apart. The crank arm 15 is connectedby a link 17 with the lower end of a toggle arm 18, which in turn isconnected by a link 19 to the platen 20 at or near the center of one endthereof. The other crank arm 16 is connected by a link 21 to the lowerend of the toggle arm 22 which in turn is connected by a link 23 to theother end of the platen. The toggle arms 18 and 22 are mounted to turnon the overhung ends of a shaft 24 rigidly mounted in common bearing 25on the timber 6. The shaft 2% is in a transverse center plane throughthe press box while the lower ends of the toggles are materially offsetrelatively to said plane.

The lower ends of the arms 18 and 22 are preferably provided with yokes26 spaced enough to clear each other as the arms pass in the opening andclosing movements of the toggles. The upper ends of the lower togglearms 19 and 23 are received in and pivotally connected to these yokcs.In order to better distribute the thrust from the slightly offsettoggles to the platen so as to avoid any tend ency to cook the latter,'1 preferably attach to the longitudinal top timbers of the platen 27upstanding bearing brackets 28. The brackets 28 of each pair disposed ateach end of the platen are spaced to correspond withthe spacing of thetop toggle arms 18 and 22 and in each pair of brackets I rigidly mount ashaft 29. The lower toggle arms 19 and 23 are pivotally connected totheir re spective shafts 29 but being spaced, more closely than theupper toggle arms, will angage these shafts not far from and on oppositesides of their centers and the thrust transmitted through the shaftswill be substantially evenly distributed crosswise of the platen. Shouldit be deemed necessary to guide the platen in its travel above the pressbox any suitable type of guide may be em ployed, that shown being guiderods 30 mounted on the platen in position to clear the toggle arms andadapted to work through guide bearings 31 in the overhead timber 6.

In operation, when cotton is ready to be fed from the condenser to thepress box below the platen by any suitable feed mechanism (not shown)the gear 12 is moved into mesh with the gear 10 and the tramper starts.As the wheel 10 turns the cranks l5 and 16 produce a reverse travel ofthe links 17 and 21 and these being connected at the knuckle of thetoggles formed by the members 18, 19 and 22, 23, serve to produce agradual and simultaneous opening and closing of the two toggles with aresultant raising and lowering of the platen. The tramper iscontinuously driven until the bale is com )leted it bein noted that theto les are l. 7 b Db adapted to assume a position of maximum powertransmission efficiency as the platen reaches the bottom of its travel.

To get the maximum travel for the platen without interference with theframe or boxes I arrange the toggles with their lower ends spacedfarther apart than their upper ends and so connect them to the crankwheel that their knuckle joints move past the transverse centralvertical plane through the platen as they lift the latter to its highestor full open position. This permits the toggle joints to break and theirelements assume sharp relative angularity without engagement with thebox walls or frame. Moreover the lower toggle ends being offset from theplaten center relatively to their upper ends, they will lift the platenhigher fora given length of stroke of their operation.

This invention is adapted without departure from the essentialprinciples of its construction to be adapted to compress various classesof material other than cotton, and it may be variously modified withinthe scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a tramper mechanism, the combination with a baling box and aplaten movable thereinto, of mechanism for reciprocating the platencomprising reversely moving toggles, and a common continuously drivenpower element for operating the toggles, the toggles being so attachedto the platen as to divergetowards the platen when the links of eachtoggle are in alignment.

2. In a tramper mechanism, the combination with a baling box and aplaten movable thereinto, of mechanism for reciprocating the platencomprising reversely moving toggles, a common continuously driven powerelement for operating the toggles, means to interrupt the driving ofsaid power means, the toggle at one end. being connected to the platennear its ends, and overhead bearings for the other end of the toggleswhich bring said latter ends materially closer than their platen ends.

3. In a tramper, the combination with a baling box and a platen movablethereinto to compress the material under treatment, of mechanism foroperating the platen comprising an overhead bearing disposedsubstantially over the center of the platen, toggle arms swungtherefrom, links connecting the toggle arms with the platen near itsends, a power drive-n shaft having oppositely disposed cranks thereon,and links connecting said cranks to the knuckle joints of the togglesfor opening and closingthe latter to reciprocate the platen.-

4. In a tramper, the combination with a baling press and a platenmovable thereinto, of a link pivotally connected near each end of theplaten, an overhead shaft disposed transversely above the center of thepress box, a pair of toggle arms pivotally mounted on said shaft andeach connected to one of said links, a double crank shaft having thecrank elements thereof spaced 180, and arms connecting each crank to theknuckle joint of its respective toggle, said parts being arranged tocause the toggle joints in breaking to move across the transverse centerof the platen.

5. In a tramper mechanism, a press box, a platen movable thereinto, ashaft parallel with the transverse center of the platen, two

pairs of toggle links hung from said shaft and connected to oppositeends of the platen, and power driven crank mechanism connected to thetoggles at their knuckle joints and adapted to move the latter inopposite directions to break the joints across a transverse verticalcentral plane through the press box, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature.

JAMES M. PEERSON.

Witness Norma WELSH.

